Multiple compartment vending machine



Feb. 3, 1948. w. D. YOUNG ETAL MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT VENDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 177 up fars I W. D. YOUNG EI'AL MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT VENDING MACHINE Feb, 3, 1948.

Filed Aug. 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L/ L l Patented Feb. 3, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MULTIPLE COLIPARTMEN T VENDING MACHINE Application August 14, 1944, Serial No. 549,432

Claims. (Cl. 312-48) This invention relates to a vending machine and more especially to a vending machine adapted to support two rows of merchandise in side by side relation with vending mechanism operating alternately to dispense an article of merchandise first from one row and then from the other, said vending mechanism being controlled and operated entirely by means of a coin or check deposited in the apparatus together with the weight of the column of merchandise supported by the vending mechanism.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vending machine comprising a movable dispensing vending member adapted to support two columns of merchandise with means for operating the dispensin mechanism to deliver the lowermost one of an article of merchandise from a column of merchandise, and then on a subsequent operation to deliver the lowermost article of the other column of merchandise.

It is another object of this invention to provide a vending machine having an oscillatable member adapted to support two columns of merchandise in parallel relation with means for operating the dispensing mechanism so as to deliver a lowermost article from one column of merchandise upon one operation and to deliver the lowermost article of merchandise from the other column upon the next operation, said operations continuing in alternating sequence until the columns of merchandise are exhausted.

It is another object of this invention to provide a vending machine having means for supporting a plurality of columns of merchandise with oscillatable means adapted to support the columns oi. merchandise and coin controlled means for controlling the oscillatable means and the oscillatable means controlling each other so as to deliver the lowermost article from one column of merchandise upon one operation of the machine, and to deliver the lowermost article of merchandise from the other column upon the next operation of the machine.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an isometric view on a reduced scale of the vending machine;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine with the front cover removed;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 2, and showing the cover in position, and omitting all articles of merchandise except the lowermost or delivered one;

Figure 4 is a. vertical sectional view similar to the upper portion of Figure 3, but showing the parts in a different position;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the central portion of Figure 2, but showing the parts in a different position;

Figure 6 is. a viewsimilar to Figure 5, but showing the parts in a difierent position;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 1-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 7A is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 1A'|A in Figure 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral [0 indicates the casing of the vending machine proper which comprises a back wall ll, side walls I2 andl3, top wall l4, bottom i5, and a removable front It. On the inner surface of front portion ii, there is secured a plurality of downwardly depending clips I! which fit on the inside of upturned flange l8 extending upwardly from the front edge of the bottom member l5 and these clips I! hold the lower portion of the front member against removal, and when the top portion is slid over the upper end of the casing, a sheet metal tongue l9 having a slot therethrough will slip over a hasp 2i and a. suitable lock may be placed through this hasp 2! for locking the cover IS in position.

Cover l6 has a slot 22 through which a coin or check may be inserted, and has a pair of windows 23 and 24 through which the lowermost articles of merchandise in the machine may be observed. It has an opening 25 through which the articles of merchandise 26 are delivered one at a time. These articles 26 fall downwardly, when delivered, onto a sloping portion 21, and an upturned ledge 28 prevents the article of merchandise from sliding entirely out of the machine, but it is within reach of the operator.

coin to roll of its own'weight and it passes into a vertical portion 3| of the coin chute. coin chute has a slot 32 into which a Weak leaf spring 33 projects.

On the side of the chute 3| opposed to the opening 32 is a larger opening 34 through which When a coin or check 29 is inserted through the opening 22, it enters a passageway or channel which slopes downwardly to allow the This I rv with the downward falling of the coin or check, and the coin will fall downwardly below the openings 32 and 34, and will strike the free end of a lever 40 which projects through an' opening in the side of the channel or guide 3|, and will move this lever on its pivot 4 I.

Two compartments 44 and 45zlforghousingq the articles of merchandise 26 are separated from each other by means of verticalpartition mem bers 41 and 48. A sheet or'plate memberifi' is supported by having end anglesffitting against the plate 41 at its upper end and onto an angular portion Ell near the bottom of m'ember. 41. ;.'Ihis plate 43 has secured thereto and, in spaced rela-,

tion thereto a plate member i and the pivot ,pin 4| projects through the plate members 5| and 49 to pivotally support the leverAll.

Suitable stops 54 and 55 are secured ontheplate 4 merchandise in the right-hand column and allow it to fall to the positionshown in,.Figure 3, and

the opening 22, .at which time the above-de- 'scribed operation is repeated, except that the [lever 66 being raised, will allow the shaft 60 to oscillate in -a counter-clockwise manner and will move the parts back to the position shown in Figure 2, and the lowermost article of mer chandise in the left-hand column will fall downwardly out of its associated notches in the members BI and 62 into the trough whose bottom is indicated at 21.

member 49 for limiting the swinging movement:

of lever 40. Lugs at the lower ends of members 41 and 48 are passed through a slot in a supporting member 56 and are turned outwardly as'clearly shown in Figure '2 as at 5 .and. 58, Member 56 is spot welded or solderedto'the interior, sur= face of side Wall i3. Y

' Supported in the rear wall ll and the men'iber 56 is a shaft 60 having notched members Blf'a'nd 62 thereon for supporting simultaneously the c o1- umns of merchandise disposed in compartments 44 and 45. These notched members (it anu sz have small portions 6| a and 62a and larger por tions Blb and 621). This shaft '60 has,alsofixed thereon a quadrant 63 having, a pair of "notches 64 and 65 therein and a leve'r'fifi having 'a tOngue 61 on its lower edge is pivoted as at .58 and at its free end is connected to a wire lll which isjled upwardly and connected to. lug II on lever 40. j 'Sloping members 13 and 14 a'reiix'ed in the machine and have ears .15 and 16 which are projected through the lower portion ofirame mem-v berjfifi so as to direct the fallingarticles of merchandise centrally of the apparatus tolfwhere they will fall onto the sloping portion 2'! to slide downwardly to rest against the projection "28. a The interior surfaces of side walls l2 and i 3 have projecting portions!!! and I9 thereon ior directing the articles'oi merchandise inwardly to-. wards each other to rest on the dispensingmembers Bland 62. e Although the coin box 3] is shown on the back of the machine, it is evident that by making the machine higher in vertical-length that suitable means can be incorporated within the casing for the coin box, but since the coin box is-not a part of the invention, the machine hasbeen shortened in order to show the parts 'on a larger s cale. The coin 29 passes from chute 3! through opening 38 in the back wall [I into the coin box 31. The operation of the mechanism is as follows; When a coin or check 29 is pushed throughthe opening 22, it rolls downwardly'inportion 9i the coin chute and into vertical. portiontl and being, of s'ufiicient weight-meves spring 33.;out g its way and-falls downwardlyto-enga ge the right; hand and of lever 41) in Figures'3 and 4, and will swing the lever on its pivot 4 l whichwill raise lug H and through thepull of wire!!! will move the pivoted lever tfiupwardlyrrom the position shown in Figure 2 to the positionshown in Figure 5- 'which will allow the weight of the column of merchandise on the portions Gib. and 62b on the right-hand side of the machine to oscillate the shaft 60 in a clockwise manner and will allow the parts to be moved to the-positionshown in Eigure 6, which will freethe lower ost article of .rln the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are :employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for the purpose of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims..

We claim: V

1. In a vending machine comprising a casing having a pair of vertically disposed compart;- ments in which articles to be vendedmay be stored, an oscillatable supporting member dis,-

' posed between and at the lower ends of said compartments for supporting column ro'fmerchandisc in said compartments and being movablefby the weight of articles disposed .thereabove, the supporting means having upper and lowerlpro-l jections thereon, the lower projections havinga longer radius than the upper projections so that when swung, the lower pr'ojectionsiwill allow the lowermost article of one compartment. to pass out of the machine and the upper projection' lwill engage the, next article thereabove andprevent it's moving out of the machine, andwilllals ogrelease the lowermost article in the next compartment andfallow it to move downwardly a predetermineddistance,v and the lower projections will engage the lowermost article in the next com partment and prevent its completely passing-out of the machine, releasable locking means for holding the oscillatable member in a fixed supporting position againstthe Weight of the articles disposed thereabove, means for releasing the locking means. for the oscillatable member toallowthe oscillatable member to beswung by the weight of the articles in one compartment rest; ing on the lower projections toallowthe lowermost article in on compartment to passfrom one of the columns of merchandise and to release the lowermost article in the next compartment; but to engage it before it has passed entirelyout, otits compartment. I V 2- In avending machine comprising a; casing, having a pair of vertically disposed compartments in which articles to be vended'are adapted tobe stored, supporting means at the lower end of the compartments for supporting articles v of' mer i chandise, saidsupporting means" having opulosect upper and lower projections thereon said lower projections being of a. greater radius than the upper projections and being oscillatable to allow the lower projections to; release the lowermost article of merchandise to pass out of the machine and to move the upper projection'under the next position below the other compartment to support the lowermost article therein, releasable locking means for holding the supporting means against oscillation, means for releasing the locking means from the supporting means and allowing same to swing under the weight of the articles in one compartment resting on the longer lower projections, to release the lowermost article in one compartment to pass out of the machine and to engage the next article thereabove and prevent further downward movement of the articles.

3. In a vending machine, a pair of side by side compartments for holding a plurality of articles to be vencled, said machine having a delivery opening, oscillatable means having upper and lower radially projecting supports for supporting the articles against downward movement in the compartments, the lower supports having a greater radius than the upper supports, said oscillatable means being swingable by the weight of the articles resting on the lower supports, releasable locking means for preventing movement of the oscillatable means under the weight of the article supported by the lower supports, means for moving the locking means to allow the lower supports to move from beneath one column of articles and to a position beneath the other column of articles and to position the upper support beneath the column from whence an article has been released to thus allow the lowermost article in the first column to pass through the delivery opening.

4. In a vending machine having a casing provided with a pair of side by side compartments for holding articles of merchandise, an oscillatable member disposed adjacent the lower ends of the compartments and having an upper supporting surface and two lower supporting surfaces, each having a longer radius than the radius of the upper supporting surfaces for supporting a column of merchandise in each compartment, the weight of one column of merchandise resting on one of the lower supporting surfaces acting to move the oscillatable member to allow the lowermost article in one column supported by the first of the lower supporting surfaces to pass out of her until the dog falls in the other notch, thus allowing the oscillatable member to swing to allow one of its lower supporting surfaces to swing from beneath one column of merchandise to allow the lowermost article in said column to pass out of the machine, and at the same time, allowing the upper supporting surface to swing beneath the next article thereabove and prevent the next article thereabove in that column from passing out of the machine, the second lower supporting surface also swinging beneath the lowermost article in the adjacent column and preventing all of the articles in the adjacent column from passing out of the machine.

5. In a vending machine having two vertically disposed compartments disposed in side by side relation for holding two columns of articles, 05- cillatable means disposed below both columns and having upwardly projecting portions and downwardly projecting portions, the downwardly projecting portions serving to support an article about to be dispensed and the upwardly projecting portions supporting the next succeeding article to be dispensed, the downwardly projecting portions each having a longer radius than the upwardly projecting portions, the weight of one of the columns of articles resting on the downwardly projecting portions tending to oscillate the oscillatable means to allow the article resting on the downwardly projecting portions to deliver the last-named article to the exterior of the machine, said oscillatable means having an arm extending therefrom and having a pair of spaced cavities therein, a detent normally urged to occupy one of the cavities to prevent oscillation of the oscillatable means, coin controlled means for releasing the detent from a cavity to allow the article ready to be dispensed to move to the exterior of the machine and thus allow the lowermost article in the other compartment to move onto the downwardly projecting portions.

WILLIAM D. YOUNG. WILLIAM ANDREW HARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,004,418 Radtke June 11, 1935 2,156,196 Romanoski Apr. 25, 1939 2,252,493 Dennis Aug. 12, 1941 976,089 McAvery Nov.15, 1910 1,301,074 Melchert Apr. 15, 1919 1,644,134 Kelley Oct. 4, 1927 

